DOSB President
Weikert cautious with a view to the German Olympic application
Thomas Weikert, President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB). photo
© Tom Weller/dpa
The fan euphoria at the European Championships in Munich revives German Olympic dreams. However, the DOSB acts defensively.
Despite the enthusiasm of the spectators at the European Championships in Munich, the German Olympic Sports Confederation does not want to force another German Olympic bid.
“Of course, that motivates us in our deliberations. But we mustn’t let ourselves be carried away too much, we have to do our homework calmly and objectively first,” said DOSB President Thomas Weikert in an interview with “Stuttgarter Zeitung” and “Stuttgarter Nachrichten “.
Weikert: “Gigantism is no longer for sale”
A possible process for an Olympic bid is to be presented at the DOSB general meeting in December. “But that doesn’t mean that we apply directly,” said Weikert. Instead, there should be transparent and open-ended discussions with all those involved and those affected, “whether and under what conditions Germany’s renewed application makes sense at all. Or not,” said Weikert.
Since Munich 1972, Germany has tried seven times for either the Winter or Summer Games, always unsuccessfully. “Frequently, the benefits of the event for the country and society were not thoroughly examined in advance. And if it was, these positive effects were not sufficiently communicated,” said Weikert.
In order for a concept to be approved in Germany, the costs would have to be kept “as low as possible”. “The gigantism of the past is no longer for sale. But I’m generally optimistic that this can succeed, if only through the widespread use of existing facilities and the refusal to build new ones,” said Weikert. The scope for sustainable applications is getting bigger and bigger, “because even the last one has now recognized that there is no need for mega-grand buildings in which weeds grow rampant a few years later.”